Grudge, Glimpse, Glimmer, Glass
by PromiseDreamLife
Summary: A boat. A cruise, ship actually. About to explode. I would survive. My sister would survive. And that demigod- what was his name? Ah, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, current hero of the hour. Year. Couple years. Whatever. He would make it. But what really matters is who didn't. My brother wouldn't. Now I'm not usually one to hold a grudge but... I might make an exception.
1. Chapter 1 - Memories

Chapter One - Memories

_I stared at the pages of the book, flipping through them aimlessly. It was a travel guide, depicting some canyons and a bunch of mountains in some faraway place. It was written in Spanish. I could translate it, barely, if I actually tried, but I wasn't that bored... yet. _

_The boat rocked slightly against the waves outside, and I closed my eyes, trying not to be sick. It wasn't that I didn't like boats, I did actually, and I never use to get seasick, it was just... It was just the fact that I could imagine myself swimming in blood. And that thought was starting to freak me out. _

_I was no daughter of Ares, that was for sure. I didn't actually like blood, despite what the monsters said. In fact, I was only here on a strictly non-combat arrangement. I wouldn't even be here at all if it wasn't for my brother, and sister. Twins. Oh, and Luke. I was here because Luke- we weren't actually on first name basis- had convinced my little half-siblings that the Gods (the Greek ones. Yeah, they were real. too real) were out to get them, didn't love them, were ruining the world, so on. Whether that was true or not, I didn't know, and I didn't really care. The gods hadn't specifically bothered me yet, and I didn't think Titans would be any better anyways. But Luke believed they would be. And my sibs did too. _

_Ah, Luke. What a piece of work, despite the fact that he was... my half-brother? He was my adopted parents sister's daughter's and son's half-brother. So. Close enough? I didn't like my half-brother Luke. I only got along with my real siblings... well... real enough. _

_The door of the compartment popped open and Adam, my little brother, hurried in. _

"_I'm baaack~" Adam said. "You won't believe what I just saw! Some boy has gone crazy."_

_I didn't look up from my book. "Hmm? Seen too many monsters, has he? Tell him they won't eat him. They're perfectly harmless..." I lied absentmindedly. _

"_Actually, he didn't think they were going to eat him."_

"_Oh really?"_

"_Yeah!" Adam said, prancing into the room "He thought that the whole ship was going to explode!" _

_Now that caught my attention. Looking up from my book, I suddenly realized we were the only two people in the small white kitchen/makeshift quarters. I put down my book. _

"_Speaking of things exploding, where's your sister?" _

_The boy shrugged, wandering over to the fridge. "Beats me. Feeding the dogs?"_

"_Get out of there," I snapped. "Go find your sister. Check by the... dogs." I scowled. That's not quite the word I would've used for those beasts. _

"_Where are you going?" Adam asked as I darted out the door. _

"_I think I know where she is," I called over my shoulder, running away from him as fast as I could. _

_I ran through the hall quickly, nearly jumping down a flight of stairs, my seasickness all but gone. I didn't even know this demigod. But I had a nagging feeling, this threat was something to take seriously. And if there was anything I was, it was serious. _

_And scary. A couple of dracanae moved out of the way as I slipped past them, pushing some other demigod out of the way as I ran past the engine room._

"_Hey!" He shouted angrily after me._

_I didn't care. My sister was only a few doors away, I could practically sense her; could hear her pencils scribbling across her little drawing pad... _

_I burst into the storage room, more of a closet really, shouting. "Lexi, come here!" _

_She looked up from her drawing pad, her little smile grinning broadly. And then the whole world exploded. _

I woke up with a start, blinking furiously. My eyes burned, and were blurry for a moment. I slept with my eyes open. It was an acquired habit after... I remembered my dream, vividly. But it wasn't a dream, was it? It was memories. I shivered. I could still feel the powerful gale of wind pushing me toward Lexi. I could feel my arms wrapping around her, protecting us. I remember soaring up, high into the clouds. And I remembered the sudden cold spreading all over my body as I looked down at the ruins of our onw home. The Princess Andromeda... was no more. And Adam had been on that ship. That cold I felt when I had realized the truth... It had never gone away.

And now, I was about to give my sister (and myself) to the same people who had killed my brother. I must have lost my mind.


	2. Chapter 2 - Hellhounds in the woods

Something moved in the darkness. I controlled myself, trying not to let it know I was awake. So there _was _a reason that I had awoken; not just that I was having the usual horrible nightmare.

My hand moved toward the knife on my belt, before I realized my sister (Kindsey- we were adopted into the same family. That family had been surprisingly unprepared for three demigods in their midst) was sleeping on my knife. I sighed inwardly. Her golden hair sprawled over my side, moving gently as she breathed, in and out, in and out. Next to her, Lexi, still small for her age, snored. Her golden brown hair also splayed out everywhere. Tonight, I was the only one who didn't look like a peaceful, sleeping angel.

I sighed out loud, quietly slipping out from under my sisters, pulling my knife out to face the hellhound, growling in the darkness. The fire must have drawn its attention- I knew it was a bad idea.

The large beast (well, big beast. actually small for its species, I imagined) growled, uncharacteristically sliding away from me, and the fire pit. Maybe it thought it could circle around me, and attack the easier targets. That was not ok by me.

I attacked first, near silent in the darkness. I ran straight at it, jumping high into the air as it reared up, slash across its eyes on my first stroke, landing over its head. The dog howled in pain. I was sure it would wake up my sisters, but they must've been use to it by now. These fights were almost daily, the closer we got to the camp.

The beast was all but blind now, my knife having left a deep gash in its face. The accused weapon dripped blood into my hand and I almost dropped it. But I couldn't; an injured hellhound was still a dangerous hellhound.

Luckily, this dog was a bit smarter than the rest of its brethren I'd met previously. It shook its head woefully, and bounded away into the shadows, disappearing like it had left this very world. I sighed. All I wanted was for one last night, free of any camp woes, free of bad dreams, free of monsters. What did I get? All three.

"Wake up!" I said, going back to my sisters and gently shaking them awake. "We have to get to camp."

"Tonight?" Kindsey whinned.

"Tomorra'?" Lezi suggested sleeply.

"No. Now." I said, as the baying of hounds on the hunt echoed through the woods.


	3. Chapter 3 - Camp (At Last!)

Chapter Three - Camp (At last!)

We bolted through the woods, haphazardly ducking and jumping to avoid trees and pitfalls. It was a dangerous woods in the dark. And was it just me, or were we climbing up a hill?

Lexi screamed and I instinctively turned back, running to her side. Her foot was clearly hurt; she was starting to cry. I could hear the hollowing of the hounds getting closer- they were melting in and out of the shadows like it was nobody's business. In a minute, I knew we would be surrounded.

"Let's take 'em!" Kindsey suggested, grabbing a large stick from the ground. One of the hellhounds in the darkness had taken her favorite spear; I could practically see her little mind working, trying to figure out a way to make it pay.

"Put that down, you'll wack someone's eye out!" I snapped.

"No _mother_," Kindsey snapped back instantly. "I'm going to fight!"

"Get up that hill!" I screamed at her. I definitely remembered Hermes mentioning something about a pine tree and a hill when he had come to claim Lexi. Oh, and protection from monsters. That was also good.

"What about Lexi?"

Without another moment's hesitation, I picked Lexi up, flinging her up to cling to my shoulder. "Hold on!" I shouted, as I bolted up the hill. Kindsey dropped the stick and ran with me.

The hellhounds bounded up the hill behind us. We ran like we had never run before, which was saying something. We ran like the wind. But the darkness was even faster- as Kindsey ran over the top of the hill, a hellhound appeared in my path, blocking my and Lexi from reaching her.

"Valie!" She screamed.

"Valerie..." I hissed, staring down the dog. "My name is Valerie. Valerie Calston!" I screamed, making sure the beast remembered my name. And then I jumped.

I soared into the air, far above the reach of the monster, the helpless Lexi whimpering on my shoulder. With a sudden gust, we were over the top of the hill. And then, we dropped.

We fell in bursts, like falling down stairs. With giant hellhounds watching and whimpering as we got away. When we were only five feet above the grass, for some reason, Lexi decided to jump.

"Lexi!"

She rolled, giggling and wincing down the hill. Kindsey laughed and followed her. Reluctantly, I drifted to the grass, and followed suit, rolling in a tight ball down the soft grassy hill.

We landed sighed by sighed, looking up at the stars. The sweet smell of strawberries drifted across my face.

"So... This is Camp Half-Blood." Kindsey said, grinning at me.

"I lwove it alweady!" Lezi squealed.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Spear (Part 1)

Thank you for the response everyone! I hope it gets better going along... and, you know, funnier, and easier to read, and maybe easier to write and... well, it's coming! Thank you!

"Is she ok?"

"Who's that?"

"Hey, what's going- oh. Who are they? When'd they get here?"

"That one seems injured... Someone go get ambrosia."

"More campers? Really? How many children do the gods- oh hey, that one's kind of cute..."

"Alright, back up, back up, give them room!" I heard a sharp voice cut through the rest."Hey! Hey you, go tell Chiron we have newcomers! The rest of you... come on, you know the drill, get out of here! Go!"

I blinked rapidly in the blinding sun. Than gasped. Blinding sun? What time _was _it? And where was I?

And then I remembered. This was Camp Half-Blood. And all the people around us... they were demigods!

I froze, shocked. I'd seen demigods before, of course I had. But there was so many of them here- at least ten- crowding around, trying to get a good look at is. They didn't seem scared. There were no monsters to be seen, no one bossing them about. They actually seemed kind of happy, curious. They wore matching orange shirts, some of them covered by armor and weaponry. But they didn't act they were going to war or anything. They acted... normal. One of them was crunching on an apple.

"What... Who _are _you?" I mumbled, my first words naturally sounding really stupid. I clamped my mouth shut. I was _not _going to have fun here. I refused. But apparently, no one heard me anyways. They were busy watching a big girl with a spear poke at my sisters beside me.

"Get up! Are you awake yet? Get up!" She snapped, her red-brown hair pulled back in a bandana, her armor strapped tightly to her, the bottom of her spear tapping with increasing force against Kindsey, and Lezi too.

"I don't wanna," The girls complained in unison.

"I'm sweepy Mommy, I'm sweeping."

"I'm asleep too!" Kindsey complained, clearly awake now. "Go away... Valie, make 'em go away..."

"Help I'm being eaten alive!" Lezi said randomly as the spear tapped her side. She squealed, more in surprise than pain. They both were up, the little cons. At least someone else was having difficulty moving them, and it wasn't just me.

"Get up already! We know you're not asleep! We have to welcome you, _get up_!" The big girl barked.

As she jabbed her spear again, I grabbed it, stopping it md-motion. The girl looked surprised, then slowly snickered. The other campers backed up. Suddenly, a jolt of electricity ran through my arm. I stopped breathing, shocked, but forced myself not to gasp or scream. Another jolt, stronger, ran through my arm again. The girl was laughing. And we hadn't even said hello yet.

Suddenly, using the electric spear to support me, I pushed myself up, my free fist flying into the girl's face.

She stumbled backwards, falling on her backside, clearly shocked. Her spear was still in my hands- it stopped jolting me.

The other campers laughed, happy to turn on their comrade in a moment's notice. I scowled, stalking over to the girl, her spear still in hand. She struggled to get up, and the laughter stopped as I twirled the spear around, the sharp end now pointing to a opening in her armor.

And then Lezi was claimed.

The campers gasped and I turned quickly, trying to see what the problem was. A glowing caduceus with twin snakes wrapped around it had appeared over Lezi's head.

"Another Hermes camper!" Somebody said loudly.

"That was fast," Someone else noted.

"I knew it!" Someone else shouted excitedly.

"Hey, aren't you a son of Hermes?" The first person asked someone else.

I just looked at Lezi, ignoring all the chatter. She rubbed her eyes and woke slowly, already smiling curiously.

"Hey... what'da I miss?" She asked sweetly.

I grinned and started to say "nothing" when the spear in my hands was suddenly ripped away. I glanced back at the girl I had knocked over- she was standing now. She looked tall. And strong. And angry. Oops.


	5. Chapter 5- The Others

Chapter Five: The Others

*Clarisse's POV*

A new bunch of girls got dumped on our front lawn today. One of them got a lucky shot. I was going to _kill her..._

… if her sister hadn't been claimed. Clearly, at least one of the gods were watching. What if my father had...? No way. He was busy, polishing his motorcycle or something amazing like that.

I marched the new demigods through camp, glaring at anyone who stared at them for too long. A couple months ago, 3 demigods showing up at the same time would be the talk of the time. Today, only one stupid satyr stopped to say hi, and everyone else went about their business. I grinned. Maybe it was because demigods were still coming in every other day; or maybe it was because they were scared of me. My grin broadened.

In front of me, my path was blocked by a little girl. Normally I would've pushed her out of the way. But I recognized her, barely, as my new little sister. She was out of breathe.

"What's wrong?" A little girl behind me asked. I scowled.

"I'm the one who talks here! What's wrong Cat- er... Chatty?" I questioned.

"Cathy," The girl corrected instantly. I winced. It wasn't a very Ares-like name. I'd never remember it. "Clarisse, Percy's missing!"

"Yeah, so?" I snapped. Percy was always going missing. Annabeth too. Usually at the same time. I was sure I wasn't the only one who noticed the 'coincidence'.

"Well he's supposed to be giving me sword-fighting lessons..."

"What?" I howled. "You're getting sword fighting lessons from that idiot?"

"Well, no, he didn't show up..."

"Listen to me Claire, Cat-" "-Cathy-" "-whatever. You don't take lessons from the son of Poseidon. You don't talk to him. In fact, you don't even look in his general direction, got it?" I hissed.

"What- yeah- I mean..." The girl fumbled, clearly scared "...Sorry Clarisse. Chiron told me to."

"No apologizing! You're a daughter of Ares, you don't have to apologize- that's only for snivelling sissies who do something wrong! And you just tell Chiron I said-" It was then I remembered the newcomers tagging along beside me.

One of them was grinning, the sort of grin I made when someone I didn't like was about to get told of. "What? Tell Chiron what?" The girl asked.

I hmphed, not finishing that sentence. "None of your business," I snapped, instinctively reaching out to give her a slap upside the head.

Someone grabbed my wrist before I could give my warning shot. The grinning girl's sister was watching me, her face blank except for her green eyes. I could've sworn they were challenging me right there, right now, see who's stronger.

The girl's lips twitched. Maybe that was her idea of a friendly smile. I said nothing, staring down her green eyes. Ha, newbie, you could never take me. Slowly, she released my wrist, not dropping her gaze, and I immediately reached for the knife at my side...

"uh, Clarisse?" Cherry's voice cut through the showdown.

"What?!"

"Um, well, you know, should I just..." She shrugged.

"How should I know?" I snapped back, unhappy my fight had been postponed. This new girl was definitely going to get it. But maybe I'd let Chiron talk to her before I beat her up. "Fine! Go find..." I searched for a name. "...Max. He'll help with sword fighting."

"Thanks!" Cali called over her shoulder as she sprinted away.

"Come on," I ordered the new folks, directing us toward the Big House. "Hurry up,"

The little girl with the grin and the pony-tail skipped beside me. "Hey," She said, "Have you ever killed a hell hound?"

Now _that _was something I could talk about.

*Elsewhere*

Chiron sat with his back to the Big House, crammed into his wheelchair for the duration of the game. He around the table, trying to judge the situation. To his right, the poor satyr who had been dragged into the game with chewing on a can. He'd brought his own bag of cans- there was only one left. To Chirons' right, Mr.D was humming slightly. Chiron took that as a bad side. Across the table, Annabeth Chase was doing the same thing as him. She looked down as their eyes met, reminding to the satyr next to her "It's your turn,"

Suddenly, someone started shouting his name. "Chiron, Chiron!"

He looked up. It was an Apollo camper. He smiled, happily putting down his hand full of cards. "What's the problem, Matthew?"

Before the camper could answer though, Mr.D threw down his cards shouting, "No, no, we can't finish yet! The game's not done,"

"Now now, I said nothing about ending the game, merely postponing it."

Mr.D frowned and turned his gaze to the poor message boy. "What the problem?" He said, but made it sound more like _what's your problem?_

"Three more demigods just showed up, sir!"

"_Great_," Mr.D said sarcastically, picking up his cards again. "Hurry up and play goat boy, I haven't got all day."

The satyr bleated, and immediately folded.

"That's not all!" Another camper, a girl this time, ran up beside Matthew. Her sister, clearly, followed behind her. "One of them just got claimed! A daughter of Hermes. She looks really young."

"Oh really?" Chiron said, wheeling his way out from behind the table, excited to get away from the wheelchair, and the grumbling god.

"And," The last girl said. "One of the other ones- she punched Clarisse! In the face!"

Mr.D snickered. Annabeth looked a little startled, and the satyr took the opportunity to run away. Chiron just smiled pleasantly. "Well, well," He said. "That is news,"


End file.
